A Father's Last Wish
by D3Fan
Summary: Set a few minutes after the Fiendish Five leave the Cooper house, a young Sly Cooper spends his last few minutes with his dying father.


**_Disclaimer: Greetings and salutations once again fellow Sly Cooper fanatics! As you may know a while ago I put up a Sly Cooper story here entitled " An Officer and a Thief" basically a Sly/Carmelita pairing. Anyways seeing as how I got such a huge response to that one, I've decided to write yet another one for you all. Hopefully you'll all like this one as well, a small song-fic between a young Sly and his father right after the fiendish five incident. Enjoy! Also note that I do not own Sly Cooper and the gang nor do I own the song "You'll be in my heart"  
  
A Father's Last Wish_**

Ten year old Sly Cooper sat next to the body of his father, his eyes red and puffy. In his hands he held both his father's cane, and the family heirloom, the Thievious Raccoonus. Actually what he held was only the binding, the pages were ripped out by _them_. Sly shuddered at the memory, he had been sitting down with his father watching TV when a sudden thump against the front door startled them. His father had grabbed his cane and told him to hide inside the nearby closet while he went to see what it was. That's when the chaos had happened, the sound of the door being torn of it's hinges, the angry shouts of his father and then the thump of something hitting the ground. He had been scared, and had taken a small peek to see what was going on. What he saw however would be with him the rest of his life. His father lay on the ground, his breath shallow while four unknown figures looted the house as if looking for something. His eyes widened when they found the wall safe and his throat became dry when they took out the family heirloom, the Thievious Raccoonus. When they had started to rip out the pages he had jumped out of the closet, making a mad dash to grab the book. And that's when he had seen him. A huge metal owl with glowing yellow eyes quickly blocked his path, and Sly was frozen in fear. He could vaugley recall the owl's chilling words as he reached out and grabbed the last pages for himself.  
  
_" You shall be next Sly Cooper, the final victim in my revenge and domination."  
  
_And then they left, disappearing into the night and leaving him in his current situation. Sly stared at the binding and could feel his eyes misting up once more. His entire family's legacy was gone, and now only a cover was left. And his father was getting weaker and weaker, the blood from his wounds staining the floor. This was too much for him, he couldn't handle all this, if only he had been able to stop them!  
  
" S...Sly?"  
  
Sly's head snapped up at the sound of his father's voice.  
  
" Dad...are...are you ok?"

His answer came in the form of a weak cough.  
  
Come stop your crying,  
It'll be all right.  
Just take my hand,  
Hold it tight.  
I will protect you  
From all around you.  
I will be here,  
Don't you cry.

Sly reached down and grabbed his fathers hand, a few more tears falling down his face. The elder Cooper coughed once more, but managed to smile anyway as he looked up at his son. He had grown so much, and he was a spitting image of his old man, and his eyes, they were definitly from his mother.  
  
" Sly, please dont cry, you need to be strong right now," his father said, another small cough forcing it's way out of his throat.

" I should have done something dad," Sly said in a quiet voice, " they took the pages from the book you showed me, the one all our family members wrote in."  
  
" It's ok son," his father replied, lifting a hand and running it over Sly's head, " all that matters right now is that your safe."

For one so small,  
You seem so strong.  
My arms will hold you,  
Keep you safe and warm.  
This bond between us  
Can't be broken.  
I will be here,  
Don't you cry.

Sly smiled lightly, his eyes closing as he felt his father's hand rub across his head gently. His worry returned however when his father started to cough again, this time much harder and longer.  
  
" Dad, dad what's wrong!"

The elder Cooper continued to cough, his body wracked with pain. He knew what was happening, and he felt helpless to stop it. He was dying, there was no explanation. Turning his head so that he now faced his son, Sly's father smiled sadly. He was going to hate saying this to his son.

'Cause you'll be in my heart.  
Yes, you'll be in my heart.  
From this day on,  
Now and forever more.  
You'll be in my heart,  
No matter what they say.  
You'll be here  
In my heart, always.

" Sly," he began, his voice getting weaker, " please dont worry about me, I'll be fine soon."

" But dad..."  
  
" No buts," his father said, a small smile gracing his face, " just listen to me ok?"  
  
Sly nodded, his eyes now staring into his father's, which clearly showed he was in pain.  
  
" Sly, remember what I told you? About how our family goes back for a long time in history, how we pride ourselves from stealing from those that are crooks?"  
  
" Yes, I remember, your stories were always my favorites."  
  
Sly's father chuckled a bit, and then started coughing again. He could already feel himself becoming cold, and he couldn't feel his legs anymore.  
  
" Sly my son," he said at last once the coughing stopped, " you are the last Cooper born into our family, and therefore you must take up the family tradition that is left to you."  
  
He could see his son's eyes widen at this, and he knew what was most likely going on in his head right now. Confusion, fear, uncertainty he had experienced all these emotions himself when his father had told him it was his time to inherit the family business. The silence between them was suddenly broken by the wailing of distant sirens. It seemed the cops were on thier way here. The elder cooper looked at his son with a bit of sadness. Society wouldn't be kind to the child of a world famous thief such as himself. His son was going to have a rough life ahead of him, and he wasn't going to be there to help him.  
  
" I'm so sorry," he whispered quietly, before reaching out to Sly and wrapping him into a gentle hug.

Why can't they understand  
The way we feel?  
They just don't trust  
What they can't explain.  
I know we're different but,  
Deep inside us,  
We're not that different at all.

Sly held on tight to his father, not wanting to let go at all. He felt his father pull back, and Sly could tell immeadiatly something was seriously wrong with him. His father's face was pale, and his eyes were starting to droop heavily. Even worse his father's breathing was now coming out less and less.  
  
" Dad, are you going to be all right?" Sly asked quietly.

His father smiled once more, and Sly could see tears starting to form in his eyes.  
  
" Sly," his father began quietly, " promise me one thing."  
  
" What is it dad?"  
  
The elder cooper took his sons hand as a single tear slid down his face.  
  
" Reclaim your birthright, find our family hierloom once more and restore it to it's former glory."  
  
Sly sniffed and nodded slowly, watching as one more smile passed his father's face.  
  
" I love you Sly, never forget that, I'll be with you always."  
  
With that said, Sly's father took his last breath and left the mortal plain. Sly stared for a few moments and then did what any kid his age would do, he cried.

And you'll be in my heart.  
Yes, you'll be in my heart.  
From this day on,  
Now and forever more.  
Don't listen to them,  
'Cause what do they know?  
We need each other,  
To have, to hold.  
They'll see in time.  
I know.

The next few hours were a blur to Sly. The police finally arrived and found him crying on his father's body, the cane and binder both clutched tightly to his chest. He was taken out of the house by police and given to an ambulence crew to check him. He then watched as they wheeled out his fathers body, the last smile he had given him still etched on his face. Sly once again lost the battle against his emotions and cried, while above the skies grew dark with the signs of rain.  
  
When destiny calls you,  
You must be strong.  
I may not be with you,  
But you've got to hold on.  
They'll see in time.  
I know.  
We'll show them together,

'Cause you'll be in my heart.  
Yes, you'll be in my heart.  
From this day on,  
Now and forever more.  
Oh, you'll be in my heart,  
No matter what they say.  
You'll be here in my heart, always.  
Always.

Sly stared up at the building in front of him with a bit of nervousness. He had been placed in an orphanage after being told by the police that he had no family members left to watch him. He was intimidated, watching the other kids here running around and having fun. His eyes lowered to the two objects in his hands, the two most important things he had begged the police to allow him to keep. His fathers cane, and his family's book. Memories of the final moments with his father started to come back to him, and Sly looked up at the sky. He felt it, like his father was watching him right now, and that he always would be. A tiny smile formed on his face and the ten year old raccoon closed his eyes.  
  
" I promise dad," he whispered, " I'll get back what was ours, every last bit of it!"  
  
With that said, Sly Cooper ran off into the building, quickly joining up in a game of freeze tag with a turtle and hippo.  
  
I'll be with you...  
I'll be there for you always,  
Always and always.  
Just look over your shoulder...  
Just look over your shoulder,  
And I'll be there.

The End  
  
Author's notes: Whew that took me a while but it's finally done! And now to say a few things to you the reader. First off Sly's father never had a name in the game, so I felt compelled to keep it out of the story as well. I tell ya it was hard writing in all those elder cooper and father parts! Second I know Sly cried a lot in the story, but then again he was only ten years old and his father was murdered in front of him, wouldn't you cry a lot also? Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it and hopefully this wont be my last Sly story. Well till next time, see ya!


End file.
